My family really enjoys Cheeseburger Rice, but sometimes it’s nice to switch things up and make this Taco Rice. One nice thing about getting your taco fix this way is that you don’t have to fill taco shells or wraps. It’s simply easier to have everything already mixed together, especially if you are feeding small kids.
This recipe is also nice for those who have a corn allergy or intolerance, since hard taco shells are corn based. And rice is much cheaper than buying gluten-free flour tortillas. If you are dairy free, the shredded cheese on top is totally optional.
The fact that everything is cooked on the stove top makes this great for summer. If you want to make this a super quick and easy meal, make a double batch of rice and/or beef on a previous night. Both can be frozen if made much in advance. Then you can reheat and throw the remaining ingredients together in no time.
Another time saving option is to make a double batch of this recipe and freeze half of it for another night.
Taco Rice

Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tablespoon homemade taco seasoning (or other gluten-free taco seasoning)
- Shredded cheese (optional topping)
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package instructions.
- While the rice is cooking, sauté the ground beef and chopped onion until the beef is no longer pink. Drain.
- Add the tomato sauce, water, and taco seasoning to the beef, simmer and stir for about five minutes.
- Combine the rice and beef mixture.
- Top with cheese if desired.
I’m always looking for another rice dish. Thank you. Looking forward to trying this.
I agree I am always looking for more rice dishes! Thank you for sharing
I would like some more recipes with rice and other pastas
You can find more recipes on my site by clicking on “recipes” in the orange bar. Here’s the main dish page: http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/main-dish-recipes/
Would like to find a good homemade taco seasoning
I meant to link to this in the recipe: http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
We made this tonight for dinner. We followed recipe except used fresh tomatoes and reduced them a bit in place of sauce. It was really, really good. My 3 and 6 year old ate it too! They don’t eat a lot of main dishes. So this will be a repeater. Thanks you!
SOUNDS GOOD! WILL TRY.
This looks delicious! I agree with what you said about not needing to fill any taco shells or wraps – this seems so much simpler. Great idea, thanks for sharing!
Making this recipe for dinner and il a taster so I spiced it up a bit more and added black beans to it and it is delicious!!!
Going to try with black beans
Made this today for dinner. I added a 1/2 very large green pepper which I chopped and also a can of spicy red pepper diced tomatoes. I didn’t drain the canned tomatoes so I didn’t add the 1/4 cup of water. It was absolutely delicious! After cooking the cup of rice I thought it was too much to add all so I added only half. That still seemed a bit too much rice but it will make for lots of leftovers for tomorrow for our family of 4! We had this topped with cheese, taco sauce, and sour cream. Thanks for the recipe!
On the stove! I had some gr. pepper so thru that in too! Thank you!
This looks good. ….But I haven’t found a decent substitute for cheese.
Made this last night! It was delicious! Whole family loved it and requested it be put in the dinner rotation! Thanks!
I made this for the family tonight. Everyone in the family liked it. Thank you.
Good morning,I was wondering if you could recommend a mask that I could wear while baking with my granddaughter. We bake about once a month ,she is six years old. I have baked my whole entire life,worked in a high school for 26 years teaching baking ,but had to leave cause I was getting sicker. Been fine since I left 7 years ago ,but want to protect myself when baking with my granddaughter.